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Tuesday 13 May 2014

waiting for...

 ... better weather!
 
I should be working in the garden most of the days by now - but we have our spring monsoon time again, i.e. heavy showers or straight rain most days:( every time I put my nose out I get wet - which is quite annoying, because there would be so much to do. the soil is soggy and only the weeds are growing.... I have to admit though that I blamed the tulips for a no-show - and all I would really have needed was a bit more patience, because they flowered quite nicely, just later than I expected:) pity that they don't bloom together with the daffs, which would have been quite the spectacle in the flower beds!
at least I had sunny colours inside - when working on my flower garden tablecloth! by now I have more than 100 flowers and quite a few "doubles", only about 20 or so to go. not to mention all the greens in between of course:) 
I don't want just full flowers, I like it better if some of them overlap, have buds or are closer together without green hexies to separate them, so I put some suitable colours together. as you can see some are quite bright:) most of the greens are more muted, which will bring the brighter colours down a bit, I think.
I already cut half of the green fabrics, but I still have to fold and "stick" them, before I can start putting everything together.  
and yes, I do really just stick the fabric around the template with masking tape. there is "low tack" masking tape available, which holds together the fabric, but won't leave any residue on it. it might not last long enough, if you plan to do the quilt of a lifetime - but I have to work quickly anyway (deadline looming), so it suits me fine. and the paper templates are re-usable two or three times! which is good, because it saves me from cutting everything out again for the 2nd planned project...
 
I only sew, when I sit at a table - which doesn't work in front of the tv for me. I usually either spin or knit there... I did spin a skein of dark grey, three-ply gotland, but haven't taken a pic, not very exciting anyway:)
I did knit some smaller projects on the side, when I had to stop with the beige cardie (which only needs a little more work, blocking and finishing). I made large potholders in black and white, with the chinese symbol for "luck". looks to me like a human standing in front of a house? which might be considered very lucky - esp. if it is your own house:)
 
 there were some leftovers, so I used the yarn up by making matching dishcloths. my favourite "no-think" pattern is the circular saw...
so I made another three for a small mother's day gift, together with a hand-made (not by me!) piece of soap. and was rather surprised, when my mother claimed that she was delighted to receive three pretty doilies:) well, it's not up to me how people use their gifts, but I don't think I'd like to use those as doilies (but maybe that's because I am not really a "doily person"). I find them quite nice to use as dishcloths myself, though I changed the original pattern a bit by wrapping the short-row stitches and knitting the wrap and the stitch together to avoid holes in the fabric. there are still the lace holes along each stocking stitch part on the outside (the zig-zag of the "saw blade"). but at least there are none in the middle, which wouldn't be very practical when in use... perfect for leftovers of multicolour cotton I think!  

6 comments:

Delighted Hands said...

The table cover is coming beautifully! It is going to be a riot of color! The dish cloths are great-I've had several people say they would use them as cookies because they were too good for dish cloths! Whatever!

Leena said...

I like your flowers, really nice:)
Also here the tulips are now starting to flower, the early kind are already flowering and the later ones have buds showing.

Nina said...

Gosh, I love your blog updates! You have so many projects to show, and finished ones too, that it's inspiring. Our tulips are just finishing up.

Elke Schwarzer said...

Ich finde die Farben deiner Arbeiten einfach schön. Die Muster natürlich auch.
Und du hast ein neues Header-Bild - da bekommt man ja gleich Fernweh!
VG
Elke

Leigh said...

You are one of the most productive persons I know! I admit that when it rains I'm glad for an indoor day. Your colors for the flower patches are glorious. And I love the idea of the dishcloths.

Woolly Bits said...

sorry for the delayed answers...

Cindy - yes, I agree, everybody should use their gifts the way they want to! I was just surprised, they never looked like pretty doilies to me:) and the quilt is progressing - slowly:) all the greens are folded, I "just" have to put everything together - in the next month:)

Leena - thanks, unfortunately the tulips didn't last all that long, there's a flowerfree break in that bed - until the lupins start to flower! won't be long now, the first purple tinges are visible!

Nina - thanks, I nearly forgot to take some of the pix, I am usually in a rush to send stuff out:)

Elke - wir hatten echtes glueck in galway, weil es so ein schoener, sonniger tag war! sonst wuerde das bild anders aussehen (tropf, tropf....):)

Leigh - there are always birthday (and others) presents on the list to keep me going:) and yes, I agree, after a lot of dry days (rare over here:) a bit of rain gives a nice change = no bad conscience for not working outside!